Politics Plus

Yesterday was a zoo.  I practiced walking (with a walker) for PT.  The RN took my vitals and checked both stumpy and my remaining foot.  I took a shower with the bath-aide.  I have soft fur and smell wonderful.  I thought I might be bashful, but necessity trumps nekkidness,  I ordered groceries.  The sheets came, and I made the bed.  It took two hours.  When my helper friend arrived, my bed making was not up to her standards, so she remade it, swept and mopped the floor, moved a couple things to make them accessible to me, and helped empty the fridge, until she couldn’t eat anymore.  Today will be lighter.  I have a grocery delivery coming.  I have a social worker coming top help me set a strategy to get a permanent bath aide, after home health services expires.  My helper-friend may come again.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:12 (average 4:59).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Tales:

From The New Yorker: Two days after their team completed a losing season for the fifteenth time in seventeen years, a consortium of Cleveland Browns fans has formally applied to relocate the N.F.L. franchise to Los Angeles.

Unlike other teams vying to move to L.A., such as the St. Louis Rams, the San Diego Chargers, and the Oakland Raiders, the Browns’ application is believed to be the only one submitted entirely by fans.

Andy may be reporting straight news again.

From Daily Kos:  Read it and weep, Republicans. And while you’re at it, absolutely run on a rehashed version of George W. Bush’s economic policies.

Consider also that under Bush, the Democrats worked to boost the economy, while under Obama, the Republicans worked to sabotage it.

From FAIR.org: …Lesson One: Social Security and Medicare Are Not Unfair to the Young…

Lesson Two: The Affordable Care Act Redistributes from the Healthy to the Less Healthy, not the Young to the Old…

Lesson Three: Our Children Will Only Be Hurt by the Debt Because the Washington Post and Other Elite Types Will Use it As An Excuse to Cut Necessary Spending…

Lesson Four: We Hand Our Children a Whole Economy, Not Just Government Debt…

Lesson Five: Global Warming Threatens the Planet, but It Is the Fault of the Rich, not Older Generations… [emphasis original]

Click through for a fascinating article anout how media are trying to brainwash youth to blame seniors for the world’s ills, instead of the 0.1%.

Cartoon:

Yesterday I spent a lot of time in bed, because it was so cold the heat had trouble keeping up.  Today, I have lots of calling and scheduling to do.  And there are lots of Republicans to put in the unemployment line in November.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:51 (average 5:12).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Religious Ecstasy:

Thanks to the world’s best backup QB, Denver has a week off and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Fantasy Football Report:

Here are the final results from Lefty Blog Friends, our own fantasy football league.

Congrats to all, especially Jack, Patty Monster, and Rob.  In sixteen years of play, this was my worst showing ever, after being unconscious/delirious for the first six weeks.  Next year I should do better.

Don’t forget that you all get to keep two players from your current teams, instead of drafting in the first two rounds, if you so choose.

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos: A Pennsylvania man identified by Butler News as "John Pisone" (he’s now deleted his Facebook page) took time out of his busy day to stop and harass a group people protesting against fracking in Pennsylvania.

As the video starts, Pisone is chastising the protesters, questioning if they’ve ever had a job. Only seconds later, he turns to cameraman Tom Jefferson (who is black) and let’s loose a vulgar string of obscenities:

Pisone: This chimp right here (pointing at the camera). 
Unidentified protester: What did you say?
Pisone: Yeah, chimp. This fucking nigger right here with a mop on his head.
Protestors: You better get out of here!
Pisone: I don’t give a fuck. He’s milking my fucking tax dollars. 
Protestors: You better leave! You better get out now!
Pisone: I don’t give a fuck what you have to say.

He repeatedly made monkey noises at the cameraman and continued his racist rant (seen in the video below).

Tom Jefferson uploaded to the video to YouTube and it didn’t take long for outraged internet sleuths to contact his employer, MMC Land Management, who promptly fired John Pisone, releasing the following statement:

Today, we were disgusted to learn that one of MMC’s former employees used racial slurs and made racially charged comments during a peaceful protest in Mars, Pennsylvania, outside of work hours at a location with which we have no affiliation. We are sorry that this incident occurred. Whether at work or not, we do not condone hate speech – EVER. Inclusion and diversity are among MMC’s core values. We believe in equality for everyone, regardless of race, age, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. MMC has terminated this employee and will never do business with him again in the future.

Republican Barf Bag Alert!!

This is the face of the Republican Party!

From NY Times: Renewing his emphasis on the need for more gun restrictions, President Obama will participate in a live televised town-hall-style meeting on Thursday to discuss gun violence in the United States, according to the White House.

The hourlong event, at George Mason University outside Washington, will be televised on CNN at 8 p.m. On Monday, Mr. Obama will meet with Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch to discuss what executive actions he can take to curb gun violence.

Republicans have their own solution: put more guns in the hands of people, who love to hate.

From Common Dreams: Ringing in the new year in Des Moines, Iowa, Bernie Sanders told crowds that the state has the power to "lead the political revolution" as his campaign cheered rally turnouts that "seem to be getting larger every day."

The choice is clear. We have revolution, or we have devolution.

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Yesterday I spent most of the day resting, although I did cook myself a steak, cheese whipped potatoes, Asian veggies, and chocolate cake  (bought).  I successfully moderated portions, as my glucose level this morning was 97.  Sleeping without sheets is very uncomfortable.  And my helper-friend is still AWOL.  Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.  My Broncos’ meditation with the chargers will be televised.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 2:45 (average 4:46).  To do it. click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Daily Kos (classic 11/2015): Sixty million people died in World War II, but fascism won. It didn’t win on the battlefield. It didn’t win right away. It won because the same fears, the same greed, the same hatred that fueled its growth in the first part of the twentieth century never went away. The symbols of fascism became anathema, but the causes … went deep. And gradually, slowly, one step at a time, all those vices became first tolerated, then treated as virtues, and then as the only acceptable view.

Godwin’s Law—the contention that any argument will eventually come round to warnings about Hitler—is twenty-five years old, but for much longer than that, we’ve been taught that the use of that… f-word, is not to be taken seriously. Sure, every government program, new or old, is open to accusations of communism and warnings of a slippery slope toward some failed dictatorship. That’s expected. But to even acknowledge our long, stumbling lurch to the right; the building force of corporate power; the relentless need for war; a police whose power of enforcement is divorced from law; a preening nationalism that rewards the full rights of citizenship only to those who fit an ever-narrower mold… You can’t call it fascism. People will only laugh.

Godwin’s Law – a common meme used by Republicans, other fascists, pseudo-intellectuals, and people with their heads in the sand, or in smellier places, whenever anyone points out the verifiable commonalities between today’s Republican Party and Germany’s National Socialist Party, before Hitler became dictator. The Republican Reich must be stopped.

From NY Times: For decades, the south steps of the State Capitol have served as a staging area for rallies on issues ranging from abortion to immigration rights, but Friday was the first time that demonstrators walked around here with handguns on their hips.

On a chilly, overcast day, more than 100 Texans gathered carrying an array of holstered weaponry — Glocks, Smith & Wessons and more — to mark a change in the law that lets them openly display the fact that they are armed. The practice had been banned in Texas since 1871.

Similar demonstrations were held in several other Texas cities.

Look! The Republican Ammosexuals are exposing their penises.

From Alternet: A self-described “pro-family” conservative said on Facebook he should be allowed to grab the nipples of breastfeeding mothers if a law banning women exposing breasts in public didn’t pass. New Hampshire state Rep. Josh Moore (R) deleted the comment, but it was archived and posted by Slate.

How about grabbing Moore’s balls in public… with pruning shears?

Cartoon:

Today is the last day, before I start mistyping dates again.  I’m waiting for the grocery store to deliver in the next 3.5 hours.  The rental bed company should be here between Noon and 1:00 PM.  The company delivering my own hospital bed should be here shortly after 2:00 PM.  This is today’s only article, mostly because I’m busier than a Republican stealing poor children’s food.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:15 (average 5:31).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Short Takes:

From Upworthy: This short interactive film, titled "Act in Paris," immerses the viewer in a 360° tour of Alaska’s gorgeous melting glaciers.

Don’t worry — you don’t need one of those big clunky virtual reality helmets or Google Cardboard or any other extra-fancy tech to enjoy the experience.

As with all YouTube 360 videos, you can use the directional buttons on the screen or the arrow keys on your keyboard to guide your way around the glacier while you listen to the mellow tone of Leto’s voice.

While outdated, this presentation was too powerful not to share.

From Daily Kos: On June 20, 1979, solar panels were installed on the roof of the White House. It was the first time any president had done so, back when solar energy was just a concept. John Wihbey with Yale’s Climate Connections writes:

"For President Jimmy Carter, it had been nearly three years of tough fighting for clean energy. After a long rollout of green tax credits, the creation of a nascent Energy Department, and a pledge to conduct the “moral equivalent of war” (at the time, spoofed by critics as “MEOW”) against an energy crisis, Carter had built up scars. And there would be more to come. He had had battles with Congress and with his political enemies over green issues. But he had some victories, too, and this day brought one more, a small moment of symbolism."

According to President Carter, the solar energy had, “the power of the sun to enrich our lives as we move away from our crippling dependence on foreign oil.”

And who took them down? It was Saint Ronnie Ray Gun!!

From Alternet: In the nearly seven years since President Obama ordered Guantánamo’s closure, Republicans have blocked him at every turn. Now a new report sheds light on another obstacle in Obama’s way: his own Pentagon. According to Reuters, military brass have imposed bureaucratic hurdles to keep prisoners locked up and prevent foreign governments from taking them in. Scores of prisoners cleared for release have remained imprisoned for years as a result. We are joined by two guests: Charles Levinson, the Reuters reporter who broke this story, and Omar Farah, the lawyer for a Yemeni prisoner who was cleared for release five years ago but remains behind bars due to Pentagon interference.

Haven’t lefties been blaming Obama for this for too long?

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